London, June 30, 2026, 20:05 BST
- Late retail quotes showed Focusrite up around 9.5%-10% after the London close, with the FTSE AIM All-Share adding 0.27%.
- Harwood Capital, via Rockwood Strategic Plc (LON:RKW), went over the 5.137% mark in voting rights. Incoming chair Ian Barkshire picked up 87,280 shares at 200p.
- Pro-forma adjusted EBITDA gained 5.7%. Net debt came down to £8.6 million. Statutory EPS slipped into a loss because of a £9.8 million impairment charge.
Focusrite plc (LON:TUNE) shares moved sharply on Monday after final results. But the bigger signal for investors landed Tuesday, with news of a chair buying in and Harwood Capital flagging a new 5% stake. Focusrite, which sells audio interfaces, software, and live sound equipment, is listed on London’s AIM market.
At 17:13 BST, Fidelity listed Focusrite up 19p, or 9.5%, at 215p/225p on the sell-buy quote. Hargreaves Lansdown had the same bid-offer after the London close, showing a 20p, or 10%, jump. This quote is delayed retail data and not the official live close—regular trading on the London Stock Exchange ends at 16:30 local time.
| June 30 marker | Focusrite | FTSE AIM All-Share |
|---|---|---|
| Quote / value | 215p, bid-offer at 225p | 772.17 |
| Day change | up around 9.5% to 10% | up 0.27% |
| Open / previous close | opened at 200p, last close 200p | opened 768.20, closed previously at 770.11 |
| Volume | 813,543 shares | — |
| Market value | £127.76 million | — |
The Focusrite figures here come from delayed pages on Hargreaves Lansdown and Fidelity, while index numbers are pulled from AJ Bell’s FTSE AIM All-Share. More details at .
TUNE has outperformed lately, but the bigger picture is still tough. A London Stock Exchange/FTSE Russell tear sheet from June 29 shows TUNE at £2.00, which is 20% under its 52-week high and 31.1% above its 52-week low. Over five years, the stock has fallen 86.0%, while the FTSE 350 climbed 41.6%.
Focusrite said Tuesday that Ian Barkshire, non-exec director and incoming chair, bought 87,280 shares at £2.00 each on June 29, a purchase of £174,560. He now owns 0.15% of the company. Harwood Capital also disclosed its stake via Rockwood Strategic Plc (LON:RKW) rose to 3.0 million shares, or 5.137% of votes, up from 4.1867%. At £2.00, Harwood and Rockwood’s joint holding is roughly £6.0 million.
Rockwood’s investor site says it looks for undervalued small UK stocks where changes to operations or management could boost returns. That’s why the TR-1 is notable for Focusrite—shares have run up and now there’s a new holder with more than 5% who is known for pushing change at small caps.
The 18-month results didn’t show a straightforward sales acceleration. Pro-forma 12-month figures point to margin gains and better cash, but reported earnings took an impairment charge.
| Focusrite pro-forma measure | 12 months to Feb. 2026 | 12 months to Feb. 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £164.6 mln | £162.5 mln | up 1.3% |
| Gross margin | 45.1% | 43.4% | rise 1.7 pts |
| Adjusted EBITDA | £24.7 mln | £23.3 mln | up 5.7% |
| Adjusted diluted EPS | 15.6p | 16.9p | down 7.7% |
| Net debt | £8.6 mln | £17.9 mln | falls £9.3 mln |
| Underlying free cash flow | £12.9 mln | £14.0 mln | drops £1.1 mln |
Focusrite reported these numbers in its final results statement on June 29.
AJ Bell’s market cap was £127.18 million, and net debt stood at £8.6 million, putting enterprise value near £135.8 million, or about 5.5 times pro-forma adjusted EBITDA. Underlying free cash flow at £12.9 million is around 10% of equity. Bottom line for investors: Focusrite doesn’t have to deliver fast growth for the cash to work at this valuation, but it needs to keep margins steady.
The main number is on the statutory side. Focusrite posted a £0.9 million operating loss for the same 12-month pro-forma stretch, and basic loss per share came in at 7.0p. The figures include a £9.8 million non-cash write-down of Sequential assets, which the company linked to weaker demand for high-end synthesisers and a factory relocation. Adjusted diluted EPS dropped 7.7% to 15.6p.
CEO Tim Carroll credited “disciplined pricing” and “supply chain management” for the result. He mentioned a “proprietary silicon chip” and said the first quarter traded “ahead of the prior year.” The board’s outlook for the year to Feb. 28, 2027 is unchanged. Investegate
The split by segment helps explain why shares moved on cash flow instead of top-line growth. Content Creation revenue was up 2.0% to £118.5 million, with organic constant-currency growth at 3.6%. Focusrite-branded sales climbed 7.2%, or 9.0% for organic constant-currency. Audio Reproduction revenue dipped 0.6% to £46.1 million, but U.S. sales rose 10.8%.
Focusrite’s calendar picks up soon. An investor presentation comes up July 1, with a key AGM set for Aug. 4 to vote on a 4.64p final dividend. Shares go ex-dividend July 9, and the payout is due Aug. 7. The company said the final dividend will bring the total for the 18-month stretch to 8.84p a share.
